


Where coincidences can lead

by laurathedemigod



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Just a kinda depressed Nico trying to deal with high school, Nico in high school, Solangelo (implied), not an au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-15 21:51:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7239874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurathedemigod/pseuds/laurathedemigod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico di Angelo is trying to live a normal teenagers life on his father's command, but how easy is it to fit in when you're a demigod and when the school's psychologist force you to join the support group?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Nico was walking down to his seat in the classroom when his English teacher touched his shoulder.  
  "Nico isn't it Thursday today?" Nico sighed. He had hoped Mr. Brown had forgotten it, but on the other hand, he never did.  
  "Yes sir, it is."  
  "Then shouldn't you be down with the psychologist right now?" Nico glanced at his classmates and saw that some were smirking at him, others were just looking at him pitiful. They thought he was a freak but that didn't disturb him, he didn't liked them either.  
  "He is sick today" Nico lied. The teacher shook his head. They'd had this discussion too many times before.  
  "Lets take a look together shall we?" He said and showed Nico towards the door.

Nico knocked on the door and a voice answered him. Inside the room was Mr. Hoffman the psychologist sitting in a chair with crossed legs - like always.   
  "Oh, hello Nico, good to see you. How are you feeling today?" He asked - like last Thursday, and all the other Thursdays before that. Nico didn't liked mr. Hoffman. He treated him like a child or a interesting thing that didn't work like it should.  
  "Like always" Nico answered tiredly. The psychologist cleared his throat.   
  "You look tired. How much did you sleep last night?"  
  "I didn't." Always the same questions and the same answers.  
  "Why didn't you sleep?"  
  "I wasn't tired" He looked at Mr. Hoffman. Nico knew him too well. In a moment he would sigh and drop the topic. The psychologist sighed.   
  "Did you eat anything today?"  
  "No."  
  "And why is that?"  
  "I wasn't hungry."  
  Mr. Hoffman shook his head - now the friends came.  
  "Well then, have you talked with some of your friends lately?" The psychologist had stoped sounding hopeful weeks ago.  
  "I don't have any."   
Mr. Hoffman frowned thoughtful and it made Nico nervous. was he going to skip the normal questions?  
  "You know, I have these group conversation on Fridays for children with um, problems. Do you want to try it for some time?"  
  "No."   
The psychologist took a deep breath, then looked Nico in his eyes.  
  "Nico I'm only trying to help, but you're making it very difficult for me-"  
  "I don't need your help!"  
  "Nico you have to learn that you can't do everything by yourself, you need someone to talk to."  
  "No, I don't, and you don't know anything about what I need and don't need." For the first time mr. Hoffman actually looked as though he was loosing his temper.   
  "Nico, I'd hate to force you, but I don't feel I have any choice. I have spoken to your grandmother, and she likes the idea very much." Nico raised an eyebrow. As far as he knew he didn't have a grandmother, unless Mr. Hoffman was talking about Gaia...  
  "Who exactly?" Nico asked.  
  "Your grandmother Demeter of course." Nico's eyes widened with shock before they turned back to the usual glare.  
  "That woman is not, and will never become my grandmother." Nico said in a harsh tone. Mr. Hoffman looked shocked at Nico.  
  "Nico! Don't say that. She's a nice lady, and she obviously cares about how you're doing."  
  "I doubt that" Nico mumbled.  
  "What?"  
  "Nothing."   
  They looked stubbornly at each other for about a minute, before Nico looked away.  
  "I told the other members, you would meet up tomorrow, and I certainly expect you to do so." He said stubbornly. Nico sent the psychologist a death glare and got to his feets with his fits clenched.   
  "Forget it," he snarled and stormed out of the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Friday afternoon Nico hurried home. One thing was clear; He wasn't going to some lame, depressing meeting, and he couldn't risk the psychologist came to drag him there. 

  He opened the door to the school exit and walked through. Nico stopped in his tracks and looked at the surroundings. He wasn't on the school's area anymore, in fact, he wasn't even in the city.   
  Nico was standing on a corn field in the middle of no where. The sky was bright blue and a warm breeze rushed through the corn plants. Nico frowned and rubbed his eyes, but the surroundings didn't change.   
  "I almost forgot how terribly skinny you are." A middle aged female voice said complaining. Nico turned around and saw the woman he least wanted to see right now.   
  "Demeter."  
  "Don't sound so grumpy dear, you don't even know why I brought you here yet." Nico didn't care about that though. There was only one thing there had plagued him since left the psychologist yesterday.  
  "Why did you tell my psychologist to put me in the support group?" Demeter smirked when she heard the angry tone in Nico's voice.  
  "You should be great full, son of Hades. Not many gods care about you the way I do." Nico raised an eyebrow.   
  "You hate me." Demeter snorted  
  "True. But I owe Hades a favor, and since he can't stop complaining about how unhappy and lonely you are, I thought I would do him a little favor."  
  "By putting me in a depressing support group. Great." Nico said sarcastically.   
  "I don't care about what you think of it. As long as you do as I tell you to and meet up every Friday." Nico looked angrily at Demeter and was about to complain, when he was back at the school right outside of the psychologists office.  
 Mr. Hoffman opened the door and looked surprised at Nico.  
  "Nico, I'm so glad you came. You made it just in time." Nico sighed resignedly and walked inside the room. It would be over soon.  
 The support group consisted eight members. Some Nico recognized from shcool, others were new to him. Mr. Hoffman walked towards him, and put a hand on Nico's shoulder. Nico quickly shook it off. The psychologist cleared his throat.   
  "It's good to see you all again. This is Nico. He'll be here with you from now on. Are there anyone who would like to share anything with him?" The room went all silent, and Nico found the starring unbearable.   
  "Well then." Mr. Hoffman said, when no one else did. "I found you a chair besides Katie. So if you would sit, we can start the meeting."   
  The time seemed to be stalled. Nico catched himself starring at the clock several times, and would give anything to get away from this hole. The meeting started with a round of everyone saying their names, and what they were fighting with in their spare time. One had social anxiety another one schizophrenia it was actually quite depressing.   
  "Nico, your turn." Nico jumped out of his daydream and glared at the clock. Still one and a half hour left.  
  "Nico?"  
  "Huh? Right. Hi. My name is Nico di Angelo and I'm 14 years old."  
  "And why are you with us here today Nico?"  
  "Because you said I had to, I guess?" The psychologist looked reproachful at him. Not the right answer.   
  "I mean, what is your diagnose?"  
  "I have dyslexia and ADHD."  
  "And?" Nico roled his eyes. This was so stupid.   
  "It's not exactly a diagnose, it is your conclusion."   
  "Say it anyway, please."  
  "Fine. Whatever. Mr. Hoffman thinks I'm depressed. Which is probably why he wanted me to come." Some of the members nodded others just starred out of the window. The girl with anxiety kept starring frightened at him as though he was an axemurder.  
  The meeting kept going, though the clock seemed to go twice as slow as normal. Mr. Hoffman asked everyone if anything had happened in the past week they wanted to share. But it didn't seemed like anyone wanted to share anything with the group. Maybe Nico wasn't the only one Mr. Hoffman had forced to meet up?  
  "Okay, how about this; I want everyone to find a partner and talk about want happened in your life this past week. The bad things, the good things, you choose what to tell, okay?" Slowly the young people seemed to get their live force back. They had probably done this before, because no one seemed to be confused with who they were gonna talk to. Nico had no idea who he was supposed to talk to, but before he could ask anyone, the dirty blond haired girl with schizophrenia stood in front of him.  
  "Nico, right?" She asked and sat besides him.  
  "Uhm, yeah. What was your name again?" The girl smiled nervously.   
  "Emily." Nico nodded.   
  "So I'm guessing we're gonna talk about our lifes then?" Nico said bored.  
  "Yeah, I guess so." Emily said trying to sound like she didn't cared too but it didn't work, something was obviously bothering her. Nico raised an eyebrow.   
  "Something you wonna say?" Emily frowned and looked at her hands. Then she looked Nico deeply in the eyes.  
  "Who are you?"  
  "I'm Nico, I told you-"  
  "No, I mean what are you?" Emilys expression turned more serious and it wasn't hard to see that she was scared. Nico starred at her.  
  "What the do you mean with 'what I am'? I'm human like you and everyone else." Emily looked lost at Nico.   
  "No, you're different. You're - you're so dead. Ish." Nico just kept starring at her. Who the hell was she? Could she be a demigod?   
  "Define 'dead ish'" Nico said hesitating. Emily took her hands to her head in frustration.   
  "He thinks I'm crazy. I am crazy. Why did I even tell him this? Maybe he has nothing to do with it. Sometimes auras doesn't show the persons personality, right? Maybe he just knows a lot of people who have died?-"   
  "Wait, can you see auras?!" Emily looked up as though it just hit her, that Nico had heard everything she just said.  
  "I - wait can you see auras?" She looked confused.   
  "No I can't, that's a very rare ability." Emily raised an eyebrow   
  "Ability?" The fact that she could see auras made Nico almost sure that she was a demigod and a strong one probably.   
  "Listen, you said you had schizophrenia right? What do you see? Emily still seemed a little confused about Nico's suddenly interesse in her.  
  "Uh, well I see, um, monsters." She said, now slightly embarrassed. Nico smirked, she had to be a demigod.   
  "What kind of monsters?" Nico asked "is it like mosters from myths?" Emily widened her eyes.  
  "How-"  
  "Lucky guess" Nico said quickly. "Listen Emily, do you know you parents? How are they?"  If she was confused before it was nothing compared to how she looked now.  
  "What? My parents are fine. Look Nico what is going on?" Nico blinked,  
  "so they're both alive? You know both of them?" He said demanding, ignoring her question.   
  "Nico! Anwser my question. What is going on? Are my parents in danger?" She said in a slightly shaking voice. Nico frowned. Then said a little disappointed.   
  "No, they're not. You're parents are fine." She couldn't be a demigod. Nico thought. If she was, she wouldn't have two parents.  
  "What's wrong?" Emily said confused when she saw Nico's disappointed expression.  
  "Is it a bad thing?"   
  "No, of course not. Why would your parents being healthy be a bad thing" Nico said trying to cover for his previous eagerness.  
  "Then why did you look so disappointed?"   
 "I didn't"  
 "Yes, you did" She said stubbornly.  
  "And you never anwsered my question; who are you?" Nico hesitated for a moment and considered if he should tell her the truth. She could probably just see through the mist, and it would be safer for her to live with the lie. Emily looked demanding at him, and gave him the 'you-better-tell-me-or-I'll-bring-you-down' look.   
  "Okay let's get back to our original seats, people." Mr. Hoffman announced. Nico sighed relieved not believing his own luck and shot Emily an apologetic look. She didn't look very happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, done with the second chapter, I hope you liked it! I really like writing this story, so I promis, there will come more. I'm just a really slow writer, so there will be times where I don't update for weeks.


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the meeting, Nico felt Emily's eyes on him constantly. She was beginning to annoy him. Why wouldn't she understand that some things were better off undicovered? She seemed exactly like the kind of person, Nico didn't need in his life right now.

 Mr. Hoffman finally ended the meeting after almost 2 hours of mild torture. People began gathering their stuff and getting to their feet, ready to leave. Nico saw Emily heading towards him, but was once again saved by Mr. Hoffman.  
  "So, Nico. Did you enjoy yourself?" If it wasn't because the psychologist had saved him from a very awkward conversation, Nico might have exploded.  
  "Are you kidding me?" He said instead very unhappily.   
 "Well," Mr. Hoffman chuckled "it looked as though you and Emily were having fun?"  
  "We're not friends." Nico said quickly.  
  "Really? I'm sure Emily would get disappointed if you told her that." Nico roled his eyes, but the psychologist didn't stop.  
 "She seems to like you. You should give her a change, Nico. You are not the only one who's fighting with something in here."  
  "We're not friends." Nico said again this time more determined. Mr. Hoffman sighed and shook his head. This conversation wasn't leading anywhere.   
  "I think you should try and talk to her. Who knows what you might have in common? Maybe she likes the same game as you used to play? What did you call it? mythology magic or something like that?" Nico raised an eyebrow.  
  "I doubt that. And I don't like it anymore. It's a kids game." The psychologist smiled halfhearted.  
  "At least try, Nico. I think you are about the same age. Do you have any classes with her?"  
  "No." Nico said, trying to end the conversation. He didn't need any more of Mr. Hoffman's stupid goals.   
  "You don't? Well I can check if you have any of the same lunches, and then you could eat lunch together." He said looking very pleased with himself for coming up with that idea.  
  "No." Nico said again, but this time he added a 'don't-push-it' tone to the word, and the psychologist had learned long ago that it was a bad idea to push the 'don't-push-it' tone.  
He looked sadly at Nico but didn't push it. Nico turned around and walked a few steps before stopping when he heard Mr. Hoffman's voice.  
  "See you next Thursday, Nico." Nico didn't anwser. He just continued walking.

Nico sighed tiredly and was glad the meeting was over. High School was much more exhausting that he had thought it would be, and the pressure from the psychologist and his teachers didn't help. His father didn't care about his grades at all. As long as he was there, and was 'having fun'. Nico snorted. His father's idea of having fun was definitely not the same as Nico's. He walked down the next hallway, and got ready to shadow travel, when a familiar  voice made him freeze.  
  "I think you're owe me some anwsers."  
  Nico turned around and saw Emily leaning against the wall with her arms crused. He sighed. Would this evening ever end?  
  "Believe me. You don't want to know."  
  "Don't be so sure about that. Monsters are real aren't they?" Nico made a grimace.  
  "Listen, it's safer-"  
  "I don't care about my safety!" Emily exclaimed desperately.  
  "I've spent my whole life being different! They- they think that I'm sick, even dangerous! I just want to know if I'm right for once." Nico looked at Emily and recognize himself in the expression in her eyes. As much as he wanted to ignore her, he knew he couldn't hide the truth from her. She deserved it.  
  "Yes." He said quietly, "they're real." Emily looked relieved and shocked at the same time.  
  "I knew it." She said "but why are we the only one who can see them? Am I like you?"   
  "No," Nico shook his head. "You're just a mortal." Emily widened her eyes.  
  "And you're not?" Nico shook is head again.  
  "Only half." Emily looked slightly nervous.  
  "So you're half human, and half what exactly?"   
  "I-" Nico considered if he should tell her everything, but he knew she would keep following him if he didn't.   
  "I'm a demigod." The expression on Emily's face almost made Nico lagh.  
  "You - you're - sorry, what?!" Emily said looking dumbfounded.   
  "Half god, half human." Nico explained. "Do you know anything about the Greek gods? They're not myths. They're alive, and sometimes they hook up with mortals, and, well, I'm the outcome." Emily nodded hesitating but still looked pretty confused.  
 "So.. you are a half god?" She said slowly still trying to understand the meaning.  
  "Look, I don't care if you believe it or not, but it is the truth." Nico said beginning to lose his patience.  
 "Just leave me and all monsters you see alone, and you'll be safe." Emily, who finally seemed to be over the demigod part, looked shocked at Nico.  
  "Wait, how could I ever leave you alone? After everything you told me! You need to tell me more!"  
  "I don't need to do anything." Nico said harshly. Emily took a step back.  
  "Sorry. It's just- you're the first person I've ever met who can see monsters like me. I can't just leave you alone, I have too many questions."  
  "Yes you can, and you will. I'm not gonna babysit you, if a monster comes after you because of me." Emily looked at Nico slightly offended.  
  "Now, if you don't mind, I don't like being here longer than necessary." Nico turned around and began walking away from her. That wasn't as easy as he had thought.  
  "Stop following me." He said annoyed, when he heard her tripping after him.  
  "But you could teach me! How to kill monsters I mean." Nico didn't stop moving.  
  "No. Where are your parents? Shouldn't they've picked you up long ago?"   
  "I told them to wait, 'cause I was talking to a friend." Nico stopped after that comment, and turned around to face her.  
  "We're not friends." Emily tried to hide the disappointment, but Nico still saw it.  
  "Well, we've got to be something? Otherwise we wouldn't be talking." Nico sighed, why couldn't she just leave him alone?  
  "Call your parents and tell them to pick you up. I'm leaving."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done with the third chapter, I hope you liked it! I've been thinking about titles for the chapters, but I suck at finding titels, so do you have any ideas? Please comment if you have any feedback on the story so far!


	4. Chapter 4

Emily p.o.v.

After looking for Nico in all the breaks between classes and at lunch every day for a whole week, Emily finally found him sitting in the smallest and darkest little corner of the library. Emily cheered and walked towards him. It was time to get some questions anwsered.  
  "Your dad is Hades right?" She said. Nico didn't even look up from the book he was reading when he anwsered.  
 "What part of 'leave me alone' don't you understand?" Emily ignored the question.  
  "I figured he was your dad, since you're aura is so dark. It could've  been Thanatos too, but you have the strongest aura I've ever seen, so Hades would make more sense. But on the other hand-"  
  "Don't you have somewhere better to be? Go talk to your girl friends, or something. I'm busy."  Nico said bored still not looking up from the book. Emily hesitated.  
  "Does it look like I have any friends?" She said in what meant to be a harsh comeback, but it sounded more like a weak complaining. Nico looked up from his book but didn't say anything. After a few seconds he returned to his book. There was a few minutes of awkward silence.   
Emily sat down besides of Nico. He glanced uncomfortable at her, and moved his chair a few inches away from her.  
  "What are you reading?" Emily said excited. "Is it some sort of secret demigod book?" Nico looked up with a raised eyebrow.  
  "It's biology homework."  
  "Oh." She said a little embarrassed. "I didn't thought you were the type of guy who study really hard."   
  "I need to, if I don't wonna fail my classes." Emily couldn't hide her surprise.  
  "Already?! It's only October!"  
  "Dyslexia and ADHD, remember?" He said bitterly.  
  "Sorry," Emily said. "I forgot." Then she lightened up like she got an idea.  
  "I could help you study! I have pretty good grades, and I'm good at explaining" She said eagerly. "And then you could teach me about monsters and how to kill them!" She looked excited at Nico, but he just sent her a glare that said 'please don't'. Emily sighed disappointed. Why was he so stubborn? Why wouldn't he understand that she just wanted to help him? Then another thing came to her mind.  
  "Is Dyslexia and ADHD a demigod thing, or were you just unlucky with your mom?" Nico clenched his fits and his face turned grim. It took Emily a second to realize what she had just said, then she widened her eyes.  
  "Oh god, Nico. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean - I'm sure your mom is wonderful woman!" Nico closed the book slowly and got to his feet.   
 "Nico, I'm sorry-!"  
 "Don't." Nico said, his voice ice cold. He gave her one last death glare before he left. Emily groaned and took her hands to her head. Why did she always manage to make people furious?

Emily didn't see Nico for a long time after the episode in the library. Obviously, he wasn't dumb enough to sit in the same spot, and he was very good at blending into the shadows in the hallway. It wasn't because she was desperate to find him, she just felt bad for how they had ended their last conversation, and she didn't want to end their friendship. It wasn't until she saw Nico's biology teacher that she began to get desperate.   
Emily coincidentally overheard one of her English classmates talking about a creepy emo kid in her biology class, and Emily guessed she could be talking about Nico.   
As soon as she got the chance, she was out looking for Mr. Roberts' classroom. It didn't take Emily a long time to find it. The classroom was small and looked like any other biology classroom. There were a few students sitting in the room, making homework, or making up old quizzes. Unfortunately Nico wasn't there. Emily sighed and turned to Mr. Roberts who was sitting behind the teacher's desk. She could at least ask if Nico di Angelo was one of his students.   
Emily jumped frightened when she saw who sitting behind the desk, or rather what. The creature was nowhere near human. It looked like a lion, but it had big leather wings and a gigantic scorpion's tail. Emily froze on the spot and widened her eyes in shock. The creature smiled at her.  
  "Can I help you?" It said showing a dozen of really sharp and probably poisoned teeth.  
  "I-I-" Emily stammered frightened. "I think need to-" Then she sprinted out of the door and didn't stop until she was sitting in a bathroom in the other end of the school. Her hands were still shaking as she was trying to call herself down. This was bad. This was really bad! Emily had never seen a monster this close before. And had never spoken to one. She needed to tell Nico. He could be in danger. 

Another two days went by, before Emily finally spotted Nico walking in the hallway with his nose in a book. That was probably the only reason why Emily saw him before he discovered her. Nico quickly looked up from his book and stoped when he saw her. Then he turned around and began walking in the opposite direction.   
  "Nico, wait!" Emily shouted, but that only made him walk faster. Why did this have to be so complicated? Emily slowly catched up to him.   
  "Nico, I need to talk to you" She said and put a hand on his shoulder. Nico turned around quickly and shook it off.  
  "Don't touch me." He said coldly. Emily ignored him  
  "Look, I know that you're pissed at me, and I'm sorry, but I think we have problems." Nico's facial expression turned from annoyed to serious.  
  "What kind of problems?" Emily sighed relieved. Luckily Nico wasn't stupid enough underestimate danger when he heard it.  
  "It's Mr. Roberts. He's a.." Emily stopped herself when she realised, that she had no idea what he was. "Some sort of monster." She finished. Nico looked surprised at her.  
  "My biology teacher? How did you find out?" Emily smiled nervously and scratched the back of her neck.  
  "I, uh, I was looking for you." Nico sighed and gave her a look that said 'really?' Emily shrugged apologetic. He just shook his head.  
  "Do you know what kind of monster he is?" Nico asked instead. Emily frowned and shook her head.  
  "No, I've never seen anything like him.."  
  "Do you remember what he looks like?" Emily looked confused.  
  "Shouldn't you know? I thought you can see monsters too?" Nico nodded.  
  "I can, but sometimes monsters even trick demigods. We're still half human, remember?" Emily nodded. Then she told Nico what she had seen in the biology classroom. Nico's face turned bitter and he cursed in what sounded like ancient Greek.  
  "It's a manticore." He said quietly. "This is bad. If it had been a cyclops or empousa, I could have taken it out easily, but a manticore? I need help on this one." Emily looked at him excited.  
  "I can help!" She said eagerly. Nico shook his head.  
  "No. I need help from other demigods. It's too dangerous for you." That answer didn't seem to satisfy Emily.   
  "You don't think I'm strong enough? I can fight you know, my dad taught me how to shoot." The warning bell rang. Only 3 minutes left of the break. Nico made a grimace.  
  "This isn't a game Emily! This thing is dangerous, and it can't be killed by a simple gun. It could kill you!"  
  "But-"  
  "This isn't you fight. I'll contact some people, and we'll take care of it together. Meanwhile you stay away from it." Nico picked up his backpack and began walking to his next class, leaving Emily in the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know what to think of this chapter.. I think it was hard to write, but maybe that's because it was Emily's point of view? What do you guys think? 


	5. Chapter 5

Nico's pov.

Nico walked through the hallways of the empty school. Even though it hadn't been longer than 15 minutes since the bell rang, the school was still empty. All the school busses had left and most of the kids had been picked up. Nico was waiting on Jules-Albert, his zombie chauffeur, but for once he was actually late. Nico didn't always shadow travel to and from school by himself. It took too much energy, and since the last war with Gaia, his powers had been weak. Will Solance would probably kill him if he tried too. Nico got angry at himself for thinking about Will now. Things were... complicated between them. After the war Nico had stayed as he had promised. It was great. People were nice, and Nico finally thought he had found a home. But then he started feeling restless. He needed to get out of camp. The daily routine drew him crazy. The safety feeling was even worse. After everything he'd been through.. He couldn't just sit around drinking tea and laughing with his friends. He needed to get out. Nico sighed and stopped walking. Was this really what he wanted? He knew it wasn't, but he had to keep trying. Nico looked at his surroundings. The area surrounding the school was really big, but it was mostly parking space. Right now though, all the cars were gone, and there lay a silence over the school. Nico frowned. Actually the school was a little too silent for his liking. Normally, a few people would have stayed around to finish a conversation or get some advices from a teacher. Today, there had been no one. Nico put a hand on his sword, and a chill ran down his back. He'd contacted Percy yesterday, but it would be at least two days before he and Annabeth turned up. Nico heard something that sounded like purring from behind him and turned around. Just as he had expected, he stood face to face with Mr. Roberts.   
  "Hello, Nico. Waiting for your parents?" He said smirking. Nico's facial expression turned hard.   
  "Stop acting, I know what are." The manticore laughed.  
  "I'm guessing your friend told you about me?" Nico looked surprised at him.  
  "Yes," it said. "I know that your little mortal friend can see through the mist. It was quite obvious when she came and asked for you. I've never seen a more terrified face." His look started to change, and soon the creature in front of Nico didn't look human anymore.   
  "It's been a long time, son of Hades. Do you remember me?" Nico froze when he realized that this wasn't just any manticore. This was the monster that had attacked him and Bianca at Westover Hall 4 years ago. This was the monster who had kidnapped Annabeth.  
  "You've grown a lot di Angelo, and I've heard great things about you. What did you do to your sister? Is she with daddy now?" Anger and pain shot through Nico like a lightning.  
  "Don't you dare speak about my sister!" He said ice cold and drew his sword. The manticore smirked.  
  "Hit a soft spot, did I? That's okay. I like my meals a little bitter." Mr. Roberts was about to jump at Nico when the doors to the school opened and Emily stumbled out.  
  "Nico!" She screamed. "Look out!" Nico's eyes widened and he cursed.  
  "Emily, stay back." The manticore stared at Emily who looked as though she was on the edge to pass out.   
  "Coming to save your friend? How.. heroic. But with no use. I would take the demigod's advice. You could end up hurting yourself." Emily looked from the manticore to Nico, but then pulled a gun out from her jacket.  
  "Stay away from Nico." She said in a terrified but sternly voice. Mr. Roberts laughed maniacally.  
  "Stupid girl! That thing wouldn't  hurt me! Did you really think such a weak weapon could kill me?!"  
  "Let's find out." She said and aimed at the manticore. He instantly stopped laughing and growled at the threat.  
  "I normally don't eat mortals, but you're beginning to annoy me. Maybe I should eat you for dinner and your demigod friend as a dessert." Nico took a step forward and raised his sword.  
  "Leave her out of this. This is my fight." The manticore smiled.  
  "As you wish." Then it jumped at Nico.  
Nico blocked the manticore's claws and attacked with his sword, but the monster was fast and dodged without problems. This was going to be a hard fight. The manticore knew it's fighting skills, and he had both his teeth, claws and a scorpion tail to fight with. Nico only had his sword. But he was small and quick and maybe that was enough to defeat him.  
Maybe.   
Just as the fight seemed to go better for Nico, the manticore shot one of his scorpion arrows at him and Nico didn't have time to block it. The arrow struck his left shoulder and Nico stumbled back with gasp. The manticore smirked.  
  "It's over, son of Hades. This is how you're gonna die." Then it jumped at Nico, and he fell back and hit his head on the ground. Nico's sight turned black, and he felt how one of the manticore's paws left his chest to make the final strike. Then he heard a gunshot, and all the weight disappeared from his chest.  
  "I said," he heard Emily shout, "stay away from Nico!" The manticore chuckled.  
  "That tickled." Nico's sight began to return, and he watched blurry sighted as the manticore attacked Emily. Nico heard another gunshot. Then Emily screamed. Nico winced at the sound. The scream was full of fear and pain, and it made Nico go back on his feet. He swayed and found it hard to stand, but he wasn't gonna let Emily down.  
  "Leave her alone. It's me you want." The manticore growled and turned around. As it left Emily, Nico got a clear sight of her and could see her lying on the ground her hands clutching her bleeding stomach. Nico got filled with intense anger. When the manticore attacked this time, Nico was faster. He ducked under the paw and stuck his sword in the manticore's rib cage. The monster gave a painful scream, then it turned into dust. Nico dropped his sword and ran to Emily's side.   
As soon as he saw the wound, it felt like his inside was turning into ice. She wasn't gonna make it. She had lost too much blood. Emily's face was deadly pale, and twisted with agony.   
  "Is it bad?" She gasped. Nico didn't say anything at first. He wasn't going to lie and tell her that 'everything was going to be fine', because it wasn't. Nico could already feel her dying.  
  "Don't think about it." He told her. Emily nodded.  
  "I wasn't stalking you, you know." She then said with what meant to be a smile, but it looked more like a grimace of pain. "I was just waiting for my dad to pick me up, when I saw you."   
  "I know." Nico said, because what else could he say to a dying girl?  
 Nico glanced at the wound. Emily's shirt was soaked in blood and both her hands were colored dark red. Emily groaned and winced in pain.  
  "Nico, it.. hurts.." she gasped weakly with a choked sob.   
  "I know." Nico said again. Tears began steaming from Emily's eyes, and she whimpered in a voice thick with pain.  
   "Am I going to.. die?" Her voice broke and looked at Nico with desperate eyes. This girl wasn't making it very easy for him.   
  "You're gonna die as hero." He tried. "You'll go to Elysium." That didn't seem to comfort Emily. She closed her eyes and the sobbing became stronger. After some time though, she stopped. She didn't seem to have the energy. Emily lips were turning white and she had trouble breathing.  
  "Nico.. I'm.. scared." She whispered with terrified eyes. "I don't.. want to.. die." Nico felt a pain in his chest and didn't know what to say. Emily looked at Nico with glassy eyes, and he could tell she had trouble focusing. Then she moved her eyes away from Nico and looked up at the sky.   
  "Don't be afraid of death," Nico said, but he wasn't sure Emily had heard it. She was already dead.   
Nico sat at Emily's side for some time. He heard wails in the distance, and knew that the place would be overrun by cops and ambulances in a minute. Someone had probably heard the gunshots. Nico kept sitting though. He couldn't get himself to leave her. Should he be sad? Angry? Nico wasn't any of that. He just felt.. empty. Emily's face didn't show pain anymore. She'd died looking tiredly up at the sky. Nico raised a hand but realized it was covered in her blood. He quickly wiped it off in his jacked. Then he closed her eyes. If it hadn't been for all the blood and her pale face, it would have looked like she was sleeping. The wails got louder, and Nico knew he had to leave if he didn't want to get caught by the cops. Nico slowly got to his feet and took one last glance at Emily's body before he left.  
He was done with high school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the final chapter of my story, I hope you liked it. I wrote this fan fiction a while ago, before the trails of apollo was published, so I hope my description of Nico was not too inaccurate. Please tell me if you didn't like something about the way I write!!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, so this was the first chapter of my fan fiction, I hope you liked it! I'm pretty new to writing, so tell me how I did! Please just any feedback would be nice, even if you don't have anything nice to say. And I'm sorry for the gramma; English is my second language. More will come soon!


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